Overview
- A California sea lion was observed seizing and died Monday on Crissy Field in San Francisco; responders collected biological samples and the California Academy of Sciences will perform a necropsy while toxin test results are pending.
- The Marine Mammal Center reports a sustained spike in strandings and hotline activity, with 3–6 times normal call volume and some days approaching 700 calls, and says it has already exceeded its typical annual domoic acid rescue totals.
- Experts link the illnesses to harmful algal blooms driven by warmer ocean temperatures and El Niño conditions that produce domoic acid, a neurotoxin that accumulates in small, bottom-feeding fish such as anchovies and sardines.
- Domoic acid causes seizures, permanent brain damage and heart failure in sea lions and can cause amnesic shellfish poisoning in people who eat contaminated shellfish or fish, prompting concern about impacts on Dungeness crab and other fisheries.
- Officials urge the public to keep distance from distressed marine mammals, leash pets, and call the Marine Mammal Center hotline at 415-289-SEAL for animals between Mendocino and San Luis Obispo while labs work to confirm toxin levels.